A Dynamic Road Incident Information Delivery Strategy to Reduce Urban Traffic Congestion

Advanced information and communication technolo-gies can be used to facilitate traffic incident management.If an incident is detected and blocks a road link,in order to reduce the incident-induced traffic congestion,a dynamic strategy to deliver incident information to selected drivers and help them make detours in urban areas is proposed by this work.Time-dependent shortest path algorithms are used to generate a subnetwork where vehicles should receive such information.A simulation approach based on an extended cell transmission model is used to describe traffic flow in urban networks where path information and traffic flow at downstream road links are well modeled.Simulation results reveal the influences of some major parameters of an incident-induced congestion dissipation process such as the ratio of route-changing vehicles to the total vehicles,operation time interval of the proposed strategy,traffic density in the traffic network,and the scope of the area where traffic incident information is delivered.The results can be used to improve the state of the art in preventing urban road traffic congestion caused by incidents.

How Does COVID-19 Affect Demographic,Administrative,and Social Economic Domain?Empirical Evidence from an Emerging Economy

Worldwide,the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on social and economic conditions as well as mental and physical health.Pakistan is considered in high ranks on Uncertainty Avoidance Index(UAI).The peo-ple of Pakistan have already faced numerous obstacles in terms of food and housing prospects.Job security,inflated prices of food items,andfinancial distress are the foremost vital challenges of Pakistan’s people during the Pandemic.This study examines the people’s perception of social,economic,and psychological impact and explores the causes and trends of spreading the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan.A primary survey method was conducted to collect the data from all Punjab divisions via questionnaire,and 471 respondents werefinally selected for data analysis.The data collection instrument was a questionnaire,and the data analysis tool was SPSS.Investors,analysts,business professionals,economists,business faculty staff,and civil society are the study’s popu-lations.Thefindings show that the overall social and economic life has been affected(82%of respondents agree)by the COVID-19 pandemic.60.5%of respondents manage their spending through salary(mean value=4.45),while 45%use savings(mean value=4.25).Moreover,Government support(mean value=3.95)plays a vital role in managing expenditure in this COVID-19 outbreak in Pakistan.Consequently,this study confirms that the lock-down implementation measure(mean value=2.20)is not considered useful in reducing COVID-19 due to Pakistan’sfinancial and economic uncertainty.This study concluded the social distance and testing measures are vital tools in reducing the COVID-19 pandemic in Pakistan.However,the study established that micro-smart lockdown,increased COVID-19 testing kits,and adequate medical equipment in the Hospital of Pakistan are the key mechanism to control the pandemic.Consequently,this study recommends that thorough long-term plan-ning be undertaken to mitigate the pandemic’s worst effects and develop a comprehensive strategy with society as the primary focus.

Edge Computing

Edge computing refers to the computing paradigm in which the processing power, communication capabilities and intelligence are pushed down to the edge of the networking system like gateways and devices, where the data originates. In doing so, edge computing enables an infrastructure for processing the data directly from devices with low latency, battery consumption and bandwidth cost. With opportunities for research and advanced applications such as augmented reality and wearable cognitive assistance come new challenges. This special issue reports the current re? search on various topics related to edge computing, addressing the challenges in the enabling technologies and practical implementations.

Comparative analysis of permissioned blockchain frameworks for industrial applications

Blockchain is a technology that creates trust among non-trusting parties without relying on any intermediaries.Consequently,it has attracted the interest of companies operating in a multitude of sectors.However,due to the number of different blockchain solutions that have emerged in the last few years and their rapid changes,it is challenging for such companies to orient their technological decisions.This paper presents a comparative analysis of the key dimensions—namely,governance,maturity,support,latency,privacy,interoperability,flexibility,efficiency,resiliency,and scalability—of some of the most-used permissioned blockchain platforms.Moreover,we present the results of a performance evaluation considering the following frameworks:Hyperledger Fabric 2.2,Hyperledger Sawtooth 1.2,and ConsenSys Quorum 21.1(with both the GoQuorum client and the Hyperledger Besu client).The platforms were tested under similar conditions,and official releases were used,such that our findings provide a reference for companies establishing their technological orientation.

Campus Vibration in Nanwangshan Campus,China University of Geosciences at Wuhan Monitored by Short-Period Seismometers

Continuous seismic observations can record seismic waveforms, and ambient noise, for the purposes of earthquake researches and other applications. Here we deploy three digital seismometers(EPS-2) in and around the Nanwangshan Campus of the China University of Geosciences(Wuhan). This network was running from April 9 to May 9 of 2018. During this period, the seismometers recorded the May 4, 2018 M6.9 Hawaii earthquake. From the recorded waveforms, we could observe clearly the P and S arrivals, and the corresponding particle motions. Analysis of continuous observations of ambient noise shows obvious fluctuation of vibration intensity inside of the campus. The campus is quietest from 0 to 5 am. From 5 am on, the vibration intensity increases, and reaches the peak of entire day at 12 am. The amplitude then decreases to a very low level at 19:30 to 20:00 pm, and reaches another strong noisy time at 21:00 to 21:30 pm. After 21:30 pm, the intensity goes down slowly. We also observed seismic signals that were generated by the interaction of speed-control hump cars and ground. By taking the envelope and smooth operations, we observe different characteristics for different car speeds, which suggests that seismic monitoring approaches can be used for speed measurement of cars. This kind of small seismic network running in a real time fashion, would greatly help understanding of the sources of ambient noise at high frequency bands in interested areas. Analysis of a long-term observed dataset, and real time illustration will help to strengthen campus security and high-precision laboratory deployments, and also contribute to research atmosphere in earthquake science.

Comparative effectiveness of Biobrane^(■),RECELL^(■)Autologous skin Cell suspension and Silver dressings in partial thickness paediatric burns:BRACS randomised trial protocol

Background:Mixed partial thickness burns are the most common depth of burn injury managed at a large Australian paediatric hospital specialty burns unit.Prolonged time until re-epithelialisation is associated with increased burn depth and scar formation.Whilst current wound management approaches have benefits such as anti-microbial cover,these are not without inherent limitations including multiple dressing changes.The Biobrane^(■)RECELL^(■)Autologous skin Cell suspension and Silver dressings(BRACS)trial aims to identify the most effective wound management approach for mixed partial thickness injuries in children.Methods:All children presenting with an acute burn injury to the study site will be screened for eligibility.This is a single-centre,three-arm,parallel group,randomised trial.Children younger than 16 years,with burns≥5%total body surface area involving any anatomical location,up to 48 h after the burn injury,and of a superficial partial to mid-dermal depth,will be included.A sample size of 84 participants will be randomised to standard silver dressing or a Regenerative Epithelial Suspension(RES^(TM))with Biobrane^(■)or Biobrane^(■)alone.The first dressing will be applied under general anaesthesia and subsequent dressings will be changed every 3 to 5 days until the wound is≥95%re-epithelialised,with re-epithelialisation time the primary outcome.Secondary outcomes of acute pain,acute itch,scar severity,health-related quality of life,treatment satisfaction,dressing application ease and healthcare resource use will be assessed at each dressing change and 3,6 and 12 months post-burn injury.Discussion:The findings of this study can potentially change the wound management approach for superficial partial to mid-dermal burns in children locally and worldwide.Trial registration:The Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry(ACTRN12618000245291)approved prospective registration on 15 February 2018.Registration details can be viewed at https://www.anzctr.org.au/Trial/Registration/TrialReview.aspx?id=374272&isReview=true.

Research on Avatar-like robot design based on virtual museum scene

An Avatar-like robot in a virtual museum environment was designed to perform the function of telepresence and teleoperation,and make the three-dimensional(3 D) effect through a binocular camera and a virtual reality(VR) head-mounted display(HMD).This robot supports users to participate in the exhibition remotely in a new and interactive way in multiple scenarios.The results show that the system has good usability and is worth further optimizing.